Tag: Horror

Posted in Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: The Remaining (The Remaining #1) by D.J. Molles

Posted on by elishasbookreview

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*No Major Spoilers*

Captain Lee Harden is tasked with a mission if the government ever was to collapse. To survive, rebuild, and conquer.

Lee is hiding in his high-powered, well-stocked, government bunker. Meanwhile, an illness has erupted worldwide. The bacterium destroying the victims’ brain, all except for animalistic instinct. The need to hunt and to kill.

When Lee leaves the safety of his bunker, fast-paced chaos ensues. This novel will leave you breathless by the end.

In the vein of post-apocalyptic/zombie novel, this one sticks out to me. Not only is Lee a Captain in the Army, he was trained for this kind of apocalyptic future.

The pacing of this novel is really well-done. It starts off slow, and as soon as Lee realizes this epidemic is real, it picks up quick.

One of my favorite non-spoiler parts of this novel is how you realize how society might become if it was ever to collapse. The psychos and the “doomsday preppers” end up surviving whereas others do not.

One of my favorite mini-spoilers is when Lee first leaves the bunker to go on a recon mission to gather intel about the world around him, he comes across one of the “Infected” (The name of the type of zombie in this story) and she attacks him and stabs him in the leg with a small knife. She was hiding under his porch during the early morning hours.

Those were a couple of the more interesting parts about this book overall. Overall my conclusion would be this is an interesting story and really geared towards and recommended for anyone who is a zombie apocalypse lover. The unique twist I also found interesting was the zombies having weapons of their own instead of just using their teeth and hands to bite and claw at the living humans.

Other Zombie Apocalypse Book Reviews Here:

REVIEW: Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne

REVIEW: Resident Evil #1, The Umbrella Conspiracy by S.D. Perry

 

Posted in Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne

Posted on by elishasbookreview

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*NO MAJOR SPOILERS*

When an epidemic suddenly starts in China and rapidly hits the USA, a former military soldier will have to use all of the training he has to survive in a world overtaken by the living dead.

Along the way, he meets some fellow survivors. Their odds are bettered, however, there are more mouths to feed. They will have to make choices that are life or death. Nothing is easy in the world of an apocalypse.

This story is told in a journal style, which is a very interesting way to write a zombie apocalyptic book. There’s no dull moment in this book, each journal entry is either an update on the situation or recounts of the actions of that day.

With the main character being military-trained, it brought a more interesting viewpoint into the story that allowed for a unique take fighting against zombie hordes.

From being trapped in an airplane control tower, to being attacked by other raiders. There is not a slow moment in this book. This book is quite the thrill ride. Even though there wasn’t any particular character I became attached to, the book held my attention and was exciting from cover to cover.

I can’t wait to get ahold of the next book in this series just because I find it so interesting how it’s written and the story itself is very riveting that I want to know what happens next!

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a different take on the zombie apocalypse genre and to people who love the show “The Walking Dead”.

 

 

Posted in Book Reviews, DC comics, Graphic Novels

REVIEW: The Joker: Endgame

Posted on by elishasbookreview
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*No Spoilers*

This horrific graphic novel follows Joker as he prepares for his final joke on Gotham. He is tired of the games and his “friendship” with Batman. So this is one last hoorah. This joke, however, might be the deadliest one yet!

This novel also follows Batman as he’s trying to figure out how to solve the Joker’s deadly endgame plans and save Gotham from total destruction; not only from Joker but from themselves. With the help of the Bat Family will they be successful?

Meanwhile, a small group of inmates from Arkham Manor abduct one of the doctors and take her to meet Joker. Each one tells her these delusions on what the Joker told them. Each wants their delusion of the Joker’s backstory to be true. But are they really correct?

What is the joke that Joker’s planning? Is Joker just a man who went mad, or his he something else entirely?

Rating: 5 out of 5.

This book left me befuddled, amazed and had to ruminate about. I was not expecting the way it ended! I know I continue saying that, but I only say it when the book leaves me not having an immediate response. That’s when you know it’s a good read!

I had to do a little research on YouTube from fellow comic book enthusiasts so I could make sure I understood this story to it’s fullest content. I might have been cheating by doing this, but it’s just a lot to take in and digest. I will link to the resource I used in case any of you are interested in hearing a summary of this epic novel.

Credit for the video

The video does contain spoilers of course. I would say that this is a must read for all comic fans. I would say light research might be needed to fully understand the plot, but I wouldn’t let that detour you from this graphic novel.

Posted in Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: The Umbrella Conspiracy (Resident Evil #1) by S.D. Perry

Posted on by elishasbookreview
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*No Major Spoilers*

Raccoon City: a remote mountain community suddenly besieged by a rash of grisly murders encroaching upon it from the surrounding forest. Bizarre reports start to spread, describing attacks from vicious creatures, some human… some not. Victims are apparently eaten.

At the epicenter of these deaths is a dark, secluded mansion belonging to the mysterious Umbrella Corporation. For years umbrella has labored within the mansion, unwatched, ostensibly conducting benign genetic research.

Deployed to investigate the strange goings-on is the Special Tactics and Rescue Squad (S.T.A.R.S.), an unusual paramilitary response unit boasting an eclectic assortment of mission specialists: roguish Chris Redfield, former cat burglar Jill Valentine, dead-eye Barry Burton, and the enigmatic team leader, Albert Wesker. Together with the other S.T.A.R.S. operatives, they have a good reason to believe they’re ready for anything.

But what unfolds as the S.T.A.R.S. penetrate the mansion’s long-locked doors is terror beyond their worst nightmares: creatures that defy the laws of life and death—the result of forbidden experiments gone disastrously wrong. Behind it all is a conspiracy so vast in its scope and so insidious in its agenda that the S.T.A.R.S. will be betrayed from within to ensure that the world never learns Umbrella’s secret. And if any survive… they may well come to envy those who did not.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

In Raccoon City, there’s been a string of gruesome and deadly murders that has the local police baffled. So they call in the S.T.A.R.S. to help solve the mystery. The S.T.A.R.S. are an elite group of people who deal with extravagant and sometimes odd missions that normal police can’t handle.

They send in the Beta team to survey the area around a seemingly abandoned mansion to see if that’s where the murderers might be hiding out. Then the Alphas lose contact with them and go out to see what happened and rescue any survivors.

However, things go awry when a group of “diseased” dogs attack. The remaining members of Team Alpha run for the abandoned mansion to escape the hellish hounds. Now they have to solve the mansions puzzles to not only get out and get help, but to figure out what happened in the mansion.

The remaining Alpha team members includes Albert Wesker, the team leader, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Barry Burton.

Chris Redfield

I’m not a fan of horror games, I’m not a fan of horror in general unless it’s in book form. Then I saw one of my favorite YouTubers/Twitch streamers (ProtonJon) play Resident Evil 6 with one of his friends. They were both laughing at it and cracking jokes at the game’s plot. Them making fun of it made a seemingly scary game not so scary.

I have been interested in the Resident Evil games and overall story ever since. Especially since ProtonJon has Albert Wesker as a meme on his channel. Saying that when you subscribe he will “give you an egg”.

Back to the story, I was enthralled with the plot. The twists and turns and puzzles kept me glued to my screen. The characters were fully fleshed out and had their own motives and reasons for wanting to find out the truth of what was going on in the mansion was believable.

Overall I think this was an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone fans of Resident Evil, or just prefer horror in book form. Also zombies, since that fad is still going on.

Posted in Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Shark Island by Chris Jameson

Posted on by elishasbookreview
Shark Island

*NO SPOILERS*

Naomi Cardiff is not one to give up without a fight and now, after learning about a series of shark attacks in Cape Cod, she s joined a team of scientists to put a stop to the terror. The plan: to lure the sharks to a remote island far from the populated coastline. Meanwhile, a fierce Nor Easter is underway. . .

In the midst of the storm, an alarming number of Great Whites have come to slaughter the seals in a vicious feeding frenzy. When sharks ram and breach the hull, Naomi and her team must jump ship and swim desperately through a sea of circling fins and gaping jaws to the tiny island. But as the swells from the storm begin to swallow their rocky refuge, how will they manage to make it out alive?

Rating: 5 out of 5.

When I was at the library this book caught my eye. The stormy skies and the shark fins the dark waters reminded me of when the Discovery Channel runs Shark Week. The impending fear of there being a predator bigger than humans is terrifying in and of itself. This book has this in spades.

The story begins with Naomi who gets attacked by a shark while she was attempting to photograph a herd of seals that were living on the beach. A summer later, she will be traveling with a group of scientists to try and move the seal herd away from the mainland and onto a small island closer to Maine. Armed with her camera and her prosthetic leg, she makes this trek to prove to herself that she is no longer terrified of the ocean.

However, things go terribly wrong when a nor’easter threatens to postpone their trek. Not only are there troubles in the skies, but even more trouble in the waters as not only the seals follow the signal the scientist’s experiment is emitting, but the sharks are following the herds.

Now they have to survive on a rapidly flooding island when their boat crashes, and until help arrives. In the meantime,  can they survive the rabid sharks? Read this book to find out!

I enjoyed this epic, thrilling novel. The characters were fully fleshed out and when one of them died I felt sad along with the other characters. In Hollywood, you knew who was going to be monster food based on the fact they were cardboard stereotypes of people. At first, I was worried about how many characters were being introduced in the beginning, I was worried I was going to lose track of “who’s who”. I had no problems keeping up with the characters because they felt like real human beings being trapped in this horrible situation with death surrounding them on all sides.

Even though, I didn’t like the way the book ended (I predicted everyone was going to die or that it was all just a dream) I still loved how my favorite characters survived such a horrific event.

This is one of the more memorable books that I’ve read in a long time, so that’s why I’m giving this my Choice Award. The characters felt real and I could sense the tension and felt the fear that was written on each page.

Check out some other horror books I’ve reviewed!